Nannotax: a web taxonomy resource for nannoplankton research, training and reference

球石藻是单细胞的海洋藻类（浮游植物），它们产生精致的方解石鳞片（球石片），在它们脆弱的细胞壁周围形成保护性覆盖物。它们是现代海洋生态系统的重要组成部分，但也有很长的化石记录（纳米化石），可以追溯到2.25亿年前（三叠纪）。活的和化石的球石藻都提供了有关海洋环境和气候变化的宝贵信息。这些化石还提供了一种简单快捷的方法来测定它们所在岩石的年龄。由于这些原因，许多科学家都对粒石藻感兴趣，包括海洋生物学家、古海洋学家和地质学家（地层学家）。球石藻的有效利用取决于它们的分类（分类学——哪个物种是哪个物种，为什么？）、它们的生态学（哪个物种生活在哪里、什么时候、为什么？）和它们的地质历史（哪个物种生活在什么时候、什么地方？）的最新和可靠信息的可用性。然而，这些资料往往很难找到，因为它们分散在各种专门出版物中。为了扩大对这些重要信息的访问，我们已经开始了一个名为Nannotax （www.nannotax.org）的网络资源的工作，我们希望它能成为任何需要获得关于粒石藻和纳米化石的基本到专业信息的人的在线参考资源。我们的试点版本侧重于相对较近的新近纪化石记录（0- 2300万年前），并且已经证明很受欢迎，注册了67万页面浏览量和275名注册用户。我们现在的目标是在此基础上继续发展，并将增加更多的物种（更古老的化石记录，加上所有现存的物种），增加更多类型的数据（年龄、生态学，如果合适的话，还有生物学），扩展内容（词汇表、鉴定指南和研究方法），并让那些最能从中受益的人注意到这个网站。最终产品Nannotax网站将提供活的和化石的球石藻和纳米化石分类群的完整列表，包括简短的描述、年龄数据、多种插图、参考书目和原始描述。将有识别键和提供学习方法信息的链接页面。同时，我们将提供关于系统使用和潜力的实际培训，并在研讨会和会议上响应那些“测试驱动”系统的人的请求。我们认为，该系统的开发对碳氢化合物工业以及参与纳米浮游生物研究、培训和学习的学者和教育工作者至关重要。通过消除学习纳米浮游生物分类学、鉴定标本和获得物种准确信息的障碍，现有用户将能够扩展他们的专业知识，我们相信它也将吸引一系列新用户。为了确保我们为众多科学家提供正确的信息，我们已经获得了项目合作伙伴的支持，他们代表了国际生物学家、海洋学家、地质学家和石油公司的地层学家，他们不仅为我们提供数据，还会对我们的进展和产品进行审查和评论。

Coccolithophores are single-celled, marine algae (phytoplankton), which produce elaborate calcite scales (coccoliths) that form a protective covering around their delicate cell walls. They are an important part of the modern marine ecosystem, but also have a long fossil record (nannofossils) stretching back 225 million years (Triassic). Both living and fossil coccolithophores provide valuable information about ocean environments and changing climate. The fossils also provide a simple and quick means of age-dating the rocks in which they are found. For these reasons, coccolithophores are of interest to a very wide range of scientists, including marine biologists, palaeoceanographers and geologists (stratigraphers). The effective use of coccolithophores is dependent upon the availability of up to date and reliable information concerning their classification (taxonomy - which species is which, and why?), their ecology (which species live where, when and why?) and their geological history (which species lived when and where?). However, this information is frequently difficult to find because it is dispersed throughout specialist publications. In order to widen access to this crucial information, we have started work on a web resource called Nannotax (www.nannotax.org) that we hope will become the online reference source for anyone needing to obtain basic to specialist information on coccolithophores and nannofossils. Our pilot version focused on the relatively recent, Neogene, fossil record (0-23 million years ago) and has already proved popular, registering 670,000 page views and 275 registered users. We now aim to build on this, and will add more species (the older fossil record, plus all the living species), add more types of data (age, ecology and, where appropriate, biology), expand the content (glossary, guides to identification and methods of study) and bring the site to the attention of those who will most benefit from it. The end-product Nannotax website will provide a complete listing of living and fossil coccolithophore and nannofossil taxa, with short descriptions, age data, multiple illustrations, bibliographic references and original descriptions. There will be identification keys and linked pages providing information on study methods. In parallel, we will provide hands-on training in the use and potential of the system, and respond to requests from those who have 'test-driven' the system at workshops and conferences. We think that the development of this system is essential to the hydrocarbon industry and to academics and educators involved in nannoplankton research, training and learning. By removing the barriers to learning nannoplankton taxonomy, identifying specimens and obtaining accurate information about species, existing users will be enabled to expand their expertise, and we believe it will also attract a range of new users. To ensure that we are providing the right kind of information for this wide range of scientists, we have enlisted the support of project partners who represent international biologists, oceanographers, geologists and oil company stratigraphers, who will both provide us with data, and also review and comment upon our progress and product.